LOOKINGLOOK RECORDS Compilation Grower 2010 1. Versions ATATI 2. Outsiders SPECTRUM VISION 3. Leaving The Limit (feat. Locus) MAHAON 4. Dirty Dishwater VONOOM 5. Mystique Cabalistique OVERDREAM 6. I Went Irie E.R.S. 7. Muti Cappa IRUKANJI 8. Sweet Dino SHIZOLIZER GIN 9. Thermal Expansion XYLONITE 10. Cosmic Harmony UNUSUAL COSMIC PROCESS 11. Raindrops LIQUID CRYSTAL 12. MetaLullaby KALPATARU TREE

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Some time ago, while seeking a portion of new chillout music to test in the portal Ektoplazm, I found a compilation called GROWER. Why did I choose this album among many available ones in this treasury of the electronic music? The reason is very prosaic – I was guided by some aesthetic considerations, this time my eyes suggested me what to pick, implying a photo on a cover. Maybe it is strange, but I attach the great importance not only to what I hear, but also to what I see. If the sounds with which I come into contact while exploring the new music, form a coherent whole with the cover, a sheath of an album or compilation, I am just very happy and content. Does the artwork of GROWER stand out with anything special? Maybe for someone it is not very thrilling, but sometimes I like some simple solutions, simple pictures, simple references – in this case, looking at the shot of a field, where at the forefront there is a thistle and some cornflowers, in my head some memories of an idyllic summer come back. I love the colours of the summer and its smell.

I admit that I have heard for the first time about Lookinglook Records and some artists whose tracks appeared in the compilation from July 2010, but it just convinces me how little I still know about the world of psychedelic chillout. Among twelve musicians I knew only four of them – Atati (our neighbour from Ukraine, whom I had an opportunity to hear live for a few times), Overdream, Kalpataru Tree and Liquid Crystal – unfortunately the rest people compiling for Lookinglook Records remained a mystery to me. It is worth mentioning that the label on which I focus in this review, is a fairly recent creation, as it was developed in January 2010 in Kiev and so far it has released two albums and two compilations – downtempo album Senzar – BEFORE THE MORNING SUN, Unusual Cosmic Process – WEIGHTLESSNESS, GROWER and a psytrance one called DANCING MAVKA.

For sure you are curious about what I have found in the material which has been created and collected by some artists from Ukraine, Russia, Denmark, USA, and even from India. Except the fact that GROWER is generally a mixture of downtempo, chillout and dub, you can still feel in it the eastern spirit and climate of the regions not so distant from Poland. There is something vague in it, what I think is appropriate only for our neighbours across the eastern border. A mystery, otherness, some completely new solutions, connections of sounds and melodies, interesting tracks which are provocative to dance, pleasing to an ear, refined in every detail, but also those which are boring, annoying, which introduce a disorder and appear to be unfinished, with no idea. Taking into account the whole of the compilation GROWER, I am a little bit disappointed because I have expected something more rousing. In my opinion, a praise deserve such tracks as: the track pleasantly and gently starting the whole called VERSIONS (Atati), stimulating in a trance way and deep OUTSIDERS (Spectrum Vision), crazy and twisted CABALISTIQUE MYSTIQUE (Overdream), cosmic and freaky SWEET DINO (SchizoLizer Gin), spatial and experimental THERMAL EXPANSION (Xylonite), chilling RAINDROPS (Liquid Crystal), and the final, melting, blissful and causing dreaminess METALULLABY (Kalpataru Tree). Mercilessly teases me the track called LEAVING THE LIMIT (Mahaon feat. Locus) – such a senseless strumming I do not like the most in the music, it does not give me anything interesting, it allows neither to relax, sinking in a chair, nor moves my body to dance. DIRTY DISHWATER (Vonoom) sways is a dub style, but I would lie saying that this music is sensational, requesting something new. In my opinion I WENT IRIE (E.R.S.), MULTI CAPPA (Irukanji) and COSMIC HARMONY (Unusual Cosmic Process) are the weakest links of this compilation, they are predictable, irritating at times.

In conclusion, I can not make a summary of this compilation. Several tracks stand out from the thicket of music served to us, but unfortunately for me they are only some proper ones, they do not give me too much emotion or they do not create any incredible feelings, on which I count, while listening to some psychill proposals. I am sorry, because although I wish the whole team of Lookinglook Records the best, they did not charm me by the compilation GROWER and unfortunately I did not feel the eastern magic, on which I counted so much. Objectively, the second release in a career of Lookinglook Records is not the worst, but it is definitely not enough for a psychill market, which really has a lot of great music to offer. If you want to form your own opinion on the compilation reviewed by me, I refer to the portal Ektoplazm and I encourage you to download the music for free.
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5.5 / 10
Kasia